page_title: Banded sugar ant
section_title: Distribution and habitat
hierarchical_section_title: Banded sugar ant / Distribution and habitat
caption_attribution_description: English: Sugar Ants defend their nest entrance whilst building it up following rain.
context_page_description: The banded sugar ant, also known as the sugar ant, is a species of ant native to Australia. A member of the genus Camponotus in the subfamily Formicinae, it was described by German entomologist Wilhelm Ferdinand Erichson in 1842. Its common name refers to the ant's liking for sugar and sweet food, as well as the distinctive orange-brown band that wraps around its gaster.
  The ant is polymorphic and relatively large, with two different castes of workers: major workers, and minor workers. These two group of workers measure around 5 to 15 millimetres in length, while the queen ants are even larger. Mainly nocturnal, banded sugar ants prefer a mesic habitat, and are commonly found in forests and woodlands. They also occur in urban areas, where they are considered a household pest. The ant's diet includes sweet secretions that are retrieved from aphids and other insects that it tends. This species is a competitor of the meat ant, and food robbery and nest-plugging is known to occur between these two ants. Workers prey on insects, killing them with a spray of formic acid. Banded sugar ants are preyed upon by other ants, echidnas, and birds.
context_section_description: The banded sugar ant is one of the most widely distributed ants in Australia, but is most commonly found in south-east Australia. It occurs along the north-east coast of Queensland, from Charters Towers in the north to Brisbane in the south. The ant is widespread in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania. In South Australia, it is a common household pest in Adelaide, and populations are mostly found in the south-east of the state while the species is absent in the north-west. The banded sugar ant's presence in Western Australia has yet to be verified. These ants are found in urban areas, eucalypt forests, dry sclerophyll woodland, grasslands and heaths, preferring a mesic habitat. In the drier regions of Australia, the banded sugar ant is absent and is usually replaced by Camponotus nigriceps. Banded sugar ants have been recorded from elevations ranging from 170 to 853 metres (558 to 2,800 ft).
  Nests are found in a variety of sites, including holes in wood, roots of plants, twigs of trees and shrubs, between rocks, in the soil, and under paving stones. Sometimes, banded sugar ant colonies form small mounds, which are less than 20 cm (8 in) in diameter and usually funnel-shaped and ephemeral. Mounds are not constructed in undisturbed regions where land degradation has not occurred. Instead, the entrance of a nest consists of a smooth-walled vertical shaft that is 15 to 17 millimetres (0.59 to 0.67 in) in diameter. Chambers in the nest have a similar appearance to the nest entrance (shaft-like walls), and the floors within the chambers are typically 20 to 30 millimetres (0.8 to 1.2 in) in length with an arched roof that is 10 millimetres (0.4 in) in height. Excavated meat ant nests show that banded sugar ants will also inhabit them.
caption: Banded sugar ants rebuild their nest entrance following rain
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